Mouthpiece feed



Dec. l1, 1962 G. DEARSLEY MOUTHPIECE FEED Shee Filed April 22, 1958INVENTOR GEORGE DEARSLEY BY 'mw ATTORNEY Dec. 1l, 1962 G. DEARsLr-:Y3,057,644

MOUTHPIECE FEED 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 22, 1958 Z6 F IG. 5

kT'iu/l/Ill/llllll Z6' v M0 INVENToR 14g f; GEORGE DEARsLEY `\E mi* Z BYv i 6 fw .fw

../40 ya M 140 ATTORNEY Dec. 11, 1962 G. DEARSLEY MOUTHPIECE FEED 4Sheets-Sheet 5 :Filed April 22, 1958 A@ @fnv 7 www Q uw no ou .Aa W (CINVENTOR GEORGE DEARSLEY BY 7^ 5w ATTO RN EY Dec. 11, 1962 G. DEARSLEY3,067,644

MOUTHPIECE FEED Filed April 22, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 9

' INVENTOR GEORGE DEARSLEY BY tlm- ATTORNEY Unite Star 3,967,644Patented Bec. 11, 1962 3,067,644 MoUTHriEca anun vGeorge Dearsiey,Raleigh, N.C., assigner to American This invention relates to feedingand cutting mechanism for dividing multiple length rod shaped materialinto subdivisions of smaller lengths and more particularly to feeding,cutting an-d handling mouthpiece material used in making mouthpiececigarettes.

Heretofore mouth piece subdividing mechanisms have employed numerousuted feeding rollers for conveying and cutting mouth pieces, and otheriiuted rollers co-acting therewith have been employed for separating andaligning the subdivided lengths into a single column. These priormechanisms have not been completely satisfactory in that they have beencumbersome, diflicult to clean and clear should they become clogged,they have required relatively elaborate driving and timing mechanism andhave been relatively expensive to build.

Another objection to plug feeding mechanisms which have been heretoforeemployed is that when a manufacturer desired to handle a certain lengthmultiple mouth piece and to subdivide it into subdivisions of anotherlength at one time and to change over to other length multiple mouthpieces and subdivisions at another time it would require a rebuilding ofthe machine components to handle the new size. Another objection foundin the mechanisms for feeding and cutting plugs heretofore employed wasthe fact that multiple knives were employed to make a multiplesubdivision of plugs. Such knives,

Itogether with their drives and sharpening devices etc. are

expensive to build and maintain.

It is therefore an object of this invention t-o provide a mouthpiecefeeding mechanism which will be economical to construct, easy tomaintain, of simple construction and which will have a small number ofcomponents.

A further object of this invention is to provide a mouthpiece feedingmechanism thai can easily and readily be changed from handling multiplemouthpieces of a certain length at one time, to multiple lengths andsubdivisions of a different length at another time.

Another object of this invention is to provide a mouthpiece subdividingmechanism which will employ a single knife for subdividing multiplelength mouthpieces.

Another object is to provide a mouthpiece feeding mechanism which willemploy a single drum for both cutting multiple length m-outhpieces andfor aligning and feeding the subdivisions `from the cutting drum in asingle column.

Another object is to provide a multiple length mouthpiece cuttingmechanism which will occupy a very small amount of space for Ireceivingcutting, separating, aligning, and discharging the subdivisions in asingle column.

A further object of this invention is to provide a 'basic design for amultiple length suhdividing mechanism for mouthpieces, which will besuitabie for handling different multiples of length of mouthpiecematerial such as quadruple, sextuple, octuple, or any other multiplelength sizes and yet require only one subdividing knife.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear as thedescription `of the particular physical embodiment selected toillustrate the invention progresses. In the accompanying drawings, whichform a part of this specilication, like characters of reference havebeen applied to corresponding parts throughout the several views whichmake up the drawings.

FlG. l is an end elevation of a` mouthpiece feeding, cutting, separatingand delivery mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of a modified form of a mechanism forfeeding, cutting, separating and aligning subdivided multiple lengths ofmouthpiece material.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the same.

FIG. 5 is a sectional detailed side elevation of the plug separating andaligning mechanism employed in the modified form, taken on line 5-5 ofFIG. 3.

FiG. 6 is an end elevation of another form of a mouthpiece feeding,cutting, separating and aligning mechanism.

FG. 7 is a side elevation of the same, taken on line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged detailed end elevation of the mouthpiece feedcontrol mechanism employed in the modified form illustrated in FIG. 6.

FiG. 9 is a side elevation of the plug separating and aligning drumillustrated in FiGS. l and 2, shown here with the guide cover platesremoved.

FIG. l0 is a rear view o-f the mechanism shown in FIG. 1, illustrating asuitable synchronized drive for the same.

As previously mentioned, the broad principles of my invention arecapable of ybeing applied to mechanism for cutting and subdividingmultiple lengths of mouthpiece material of any desired length and anydesired combination of ultimate subdivisions. This could be multiplelengths of even or odd number and could range from two, six, eight, ormore multiple lengths as the case might be. For purposes of illustrationonly, and without any intent to limit the scope of this invention, Ihave shown how my apparatus may be employed for subdividing seXtuplelengths of mouthpiece material into subdivisions of three double lengthsof mouthpiece materials.

ln the embodiment of the structure I have employed to illustrate theinvention, multiple lengths of mouthpiece material may be fed to mycutting drum by any suitable type of feed that one may desire to employ.For eX- ample, multiple lengths of mouthpiece materials are placed in ahopper having inclined sidewalls 1) and 12 which have finger extensions14 and i6 (FIGS. l and 2).

The delivery portion of the hopper is formed by two iiuted rollers 1Sand 2h, which rotate in opposite directions in a manner shown by thearrow. Two or more grooves 22 and 24 are formed in each of the iiutedrollers i3 and Zh for receiving the fingers 14 and 116. It will be notedthat the teeth of one liuted roller are rotated so that they areopposite the flutes of the .adjoining fluted roller Z@ to provide anoscillating space between the surfaces of the two fluted rollers so asto agitate the multiple length mouthpieces at this point. As mentionedpreviously any other suitable agitating structure could be employed forthis purpose even though the structure I have employed is a very simpleconstruction.

The multiple length mouthpieces fed through the exit of the hopper aredelivered between the two vertical channel walls 26 and 2S. The upperend of the vertical channel walls 26 and 2.8 have two or more ngers 30and 32 which ride in the grooves 22 and 24 and act as a funnel for thedescending mouthpieces.

The iower end of the vertical wall 28 has `a foot 34 for supporting thevertical column of multiple length mouthpieces and is slightly spacedabove the feed roller 36 so that it does not rub thereon. The feedroller 36 carries a plurality of feed lugs 38 arranged in apredetermined plurality of rows as shown in FIGS. l and 2. The feed lugs33 pass through suitable castellated openings formed at the iower end ofthe vertical wall 23. In passing through said openings, when the roller3-6 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow each row of feedlugs remove the lower-most multiple length of mouthpiece and conveyssame in a manner shown in FIG. 1. A curved guide tti is spaced from andsurrounds the path of travel of the selector roller 3d and assists inconfining the multiple length of mouthpiece material between theperiphery of the roller 36 and the inside concave surface 42. Ifdesired, a suitable spring tension finger (not shown) could be employedto yieldably hold the mouthpiece material against the roller 36, when it1s being advanced thereby, to prevent the mouthpiece material fromfalling downwardly.

The selector roller 36 is driven in such timed relationship with thealigning and conveying drum d4, that the feed lugs 3S will deliver onemultiple length of mouthpiece material into every third flute or devicefor slidably supporting a mouthpiece. rIhis arrangement (one in everythird flute) is of course only applicable to the case where the multiplelength is subdivided into three parts. For quadruple cutting it will beunderstood it would have to be delivered into every fourth device orflute and so ou. The drum provided with these devices or flutes (-14 isso constructed and driven that it discharges a single line of subdividedmouthpieces from each flute or device 46 of the drum ed at the dischargestation located at the bottom of the path of travel of drum 44.

It will therefore be evident that the remaining subdivisions in eachflute or device are recirculated around the cutting drum until theyreach their turn for discharge. In this process when all of thesubdivisions in one flute or device have been discharged, the open fluteor device will be empty to receive and convey a new multiple length ofmouthpiece material. The cycle is then repeated of discharging onesubdivision at a time of the multiple length mouthpiece material in aflute or device in the cyclical manner just generally mentioned whilerecirculating the remainder until finally the flute becomes empty again.

I will now specifically describe the construction and arrangement of therecycling feature of my multiple length plug drum as it would be appliedto the feeding of three equal parts of sextuple lengths of mouthpiecematerial used to illustrate my invention. If quadruple, octuple or anyother multiple lengths of material were to be fed the principal offeeding would remain the same, but the number and length of flutes ordevices would be changed accordingly. ln such cases, deliveries intoevery nth flute or device would be made where n equals the number ofsubdivisions into which the multiple length of mouthpiece material is tobe cut.

It will be noted that as previously described the feed roller 36 isdriven in such timed relation with the tluted drum as to cause thedelivery of one unit of the sextuple length mouthpiece material intoevery third flute or device of the drum 44. The fluted drum Litt mayhave any number of flutes or devices providing that the number of flutesor devices chosen, plus or minus one, may be divisible by three toresult in a whole number. In this way, any particular flute or device indrum #t4 will arrive in time with a row of feed lugs, 38 of feed roller36 to receive a complete unit of the multiple length mouthpiece materialtherefrom at every third revolution of drum 44.

During the intervening two revolutions of drum 4d, the flute or devicewill pass its filter plug receiving station at the bottom of feed roller36 with the feed lugs 3S out of phase with feed lugs 3d and so that saidflute or device will pass without receiving any new multiple lengthplug. In order to achieve this result, the distances between the rows offeed lugs on the feed roller 36 should be substantially three times thedistance between each flute or device in drum 44, and obviously, thedistances between the flutes or devices in drum 44 should besubstantially equal to the distances between the troughs of the movingreceiving conveyor into which the subdivided plug is deposited forfurther processing.

From the foregoing description it will be noted that every third fluteor device receives and carries a full multiple length of mouthpiecematerial, and when it has reached the lower discharge station onesubdivision 1s removed from said multiple length while two remainingsubdivisions are recirculated. Because of the predetermined spacedfeeding arrangement previously described, when the mouthpiece remainderapproaches the receiving station the new multiple length of mouthpiecematerial will be deposited in a flute or device adjacent to the flutecarrying the remainder. This adjacent flute may be either in front of orin the rear of the remainder flute, depending on the number of fluteschosen in accordance with the formula described, namely where N=thenumber of flutes in drum 44 for handling sextuple lengths of mouthpiecematerial.

In the illustration used to describe how my invention could be used tofeed three equal parts of seXtuple lengths of mouthpiece material theflutes in the drum 44 could be made with a 3A inch circular pitch whilethe lugs 38 on feed roller 36 are 3 x 3A, or 2% inch circular pitch. lffour lugs had been used for example, the pitch of the lugs on drum 36would still be 21A inch circular pitch which means that thecircumferential distance between one blade and the next on the feedroller 36 will be 2% inch because the distance between every third fluteand the drum 34 is also 2% inches. In other words, the peripheral speedsof the roller 36 and drum 44 are substantially the same. The diagram inFIG. 1 shows three rows of lugs on roller 36 and twenty three flutes inroller dfi which satisfies the requirement of 1 equalling a wholenumber.

After one subdivision has been delivered during the first revolutionfrom flute 46 of the multiple length of mouthpiece material or multiplemouthpiece stalk, the apparatus cyclically repeats its operation andwhen the duplex remainder arrives at the discharge station a second timeit will then discharge one of its subdivisions and the third remainingsubdivision then commences traveling around with the drum 4d again. Asthe drum continues its rotation and the remaining mouthpiece subdivisionagain reaches the discharge station, the remaining mouth- -piece is thendischarged and the empty flute then continues its travel -to thereceiving station where a new sextuple length of mouthpiece material isdeposited by means of lugs 38 and the cycle described is then repeated.

FIG. 9 clearly illustrates the sequencial arrangement of' themouthpieces that has just been described in connec-Y tion with therecycling of mouthpieces to achieve a con-F tinuous receipt ofmouthpiece material in multiple lengths into every third flute and acontinuous discharge of single subdivided lengths of mouthpiece materialfrom every flute.

It can readily be seen from the above that the general formula xnicequals the number of flutes or devices in the conveyor where n is thenumber of subdivided lengths of a mouthpiece stalk, x is a whole numberlarger than one and c is a whole number between zero and n and at leastone of n or cis an odd number.

The above description of recycling is applicable both to the embodimentof the invention shown in the FIGURES 1, 2 and 9 and also to that shownin FIGURES 3, 4 and 5.

l will now describe specifically how the multiple length of mouthpiecematerial is subdivided in the embodiment shown in FIGURES l, 2 and 9.

In order to subdivide the multiple lengths of mouth-. piece materialinto the subdivisions of the desired, length,y a suitable stop ispositioned adjacent -to the cutting sta. tion so that the multiplelengths of mouthpiece material are axially advanced up against thestopwhich controls and determines the length of the mouthpiece materialbetween said stop and the cutting knife. lf desired this stop could bemade adjustable so as to make it possible to readily vary the length ofthe subdivision to be cut .so as to cut the length of subdivisionsdesired.

Suitable means are employed for moving the mouth- -piece material upagainst lthe stop. l have shown how one or more air jets, shown in FIGS.2 and 9, may be conveniently employed for this purpose, and l have shownin FIGURES 3, 4 and 5 a suction arrangement which could be similar used.The important factor is that the mouthpiece material be moved up againstthe stop irnmediately prior to cutting which could be also done yby amechanical device such as a frictional surface pushing the mouthpiecematerial in this direction.

While a lfixed stop will readily provide the desired result, by makingthe stop adjustable it will be possible to cut olf subdivisions ofmultiple length mouthpiece to take care of different size subdivisionsthat may be desired.

It will be appreciated that while every effort is made to make multiplelength mouthpieces of exactly the same length there do-es exist in theusual multiple length mouthpieces a slight variation in length frommultiple length to multiple length. To accommodate this variation meansmay be pro-vided in my apparatus for moving the adjustable stop faceoutwardly a slight additional distance from the cutting knife every timethe last multiple length of mouthpiece material passes by the cuttingknife as shown in FlG. 9. This will enable these variations in length tobe pro-vided for in my apparatus by avoiding the possibility of thecutting knife severing oif end slivers from the last subdivision as itpasses by the cutting knife, or from rubbing against the end of .thelast subdivision as it passes by the cutting knife.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES l and 2 I have shown how anautomatically moving stop could be advantageously employed to permitpassage of the third plug past the knife without damaging the plug andavoiding the undesirable sliver therefrom. The stop consists of anadjusting screw 4S threaded in a fixed bracket 5t) having a lockingscrew 52 and an adjusting knob 54 (FIG. 2). On the opposite end of thescrew 43 are mounted the inner races of ball bearings. The outer racessupport a hub 62. The face 64 of the hub o2 acts as a stop against whichmouthpiece material is moved in the manner described, for example bymeans of the air jet 72. Suitable means are employed for rotating thehub 62 at the same peripheral speed as the uted periphery of tinted drum44. In this embodiment l have shown this as being done by pin 66coacting with slots du formed in the rotating stop 62 as shown inFIGURES l, 2 and 9.

At every third interval, a portion 70 of the stop face 64 has been cutaway, so that this cut away portion will arrive opposite each thirdilute carrying the last remaining one third subdivision of the sextuplelength plugs used .to illustrate the invention. As previously mentioned,when the last remaining subdivision is blown against the cutaway portionitt by the blower 72 it will be in such an axial position that it willpass the knife without touching it, regardless of whether the over-alllength of the sextuple length of mouthpiece material was of exactly thecorrect size or of a size slightly greater than the exact size.

The periphery of the cutting drum 44 is surrounded by an arcuate guide74 which holds the mouthpiece material in the respective flutes 46. Aslot 76 is formed in the arcuate guide 74 .to permit the knife 7S topass therethrough. A similar slot 80 is formed around the periphery offluted cutting drum 44 and the knife travels therethrough to subdividethe lengths of multiple mouthpiece material as they pass the cuttingknife 73. The cutting drum 44 is mounted on a shaft 82.

At the discharge station of guide 74 the subdivision of mouthpiecematerial is discharged onto a receiving roller chain conveyor or drumupon which lengths of cigarette rods are also deposited and upon whichthe assembly is united together by a uniting hand.

The operation of the apparatus shown in FIGURES l, 2 and 9 -may bebrietly described as followszfIt will be evident that in the embodimentsho-wn, multiple lengths of mouthpiece material are deposited in everythird flute of a cutting drum. The multiple lengths of mouthpieceymaterial pass an air nozzle 72 before reaching the cutting knife and ajet of air emerging from said nozzle pushes the mouthpiece materialalong the tintes-46 up against the stop As the cutting drum continuesits rotation, one end of the mouthpiece material is severed and whenlthis end of the mouthipece material so severed reaches the bottom ofthe cutting drum it is deposited in thespace between two adjacentrollers 84 of the drum or roller chain S6. The peripheral speed of thechainor drum 86 is the same as the peripheral speed of the drum 44 sothat the flutes 46 are always opposite the spaces between the rollers 84at the discharge point.

A suitably shaped cutout S8 provided at the'bottorn portion of thearcuate guide 74 permits the subdivisions of mouthpiece material to dropfrom flute 46 of drum 44 into the spaces between rollers 84, this cutout88 being so dimensioned that although it permits the free movement ofthe severed end piece of mouthpiece material through it, it will retainany remainder within the flute d6 and so compel that remainder to berecirculated until axially moved over into the discharge lane by meansof the air jet or other device. The upward traveling periphery of tluteddrum 44 is surrounded by the guide which forms a continuation of theguide 74 and holds the remaining portion of the sextuple lengths intheir respective utes. When the-remaining portion of the plug `materialarrives at the nozzle station, it is pushed against the stop 64 by theair blast from the nozzle 72 after which it is moved past the cuttingknife 78 in the manner shown in FIG. 9. Continued lmovement of drum 44again brings the flute in question to discharge cutout 88 where onesubdivision is again deposited on to roller 84, the remaining and lastsubdivision being again carried past the discharge cutout to completeanother revolution of drum 44 during which movement -it again passesnozzle 72 from which an air blast issues, causing the remainingsubdivision to move over to the stop plate.

This time, the cut away portion 70 of the stop plate 64 will be oppositethe flute in question so that the subdivisions of mouthpiece materialwill be axiall-ylocated relative to the knife, a distance greater thanpreviously employed by an amount depending upon the depth of the cutaway portion 70. In this way, the subdivision will pass clear of theknife, to be delivered through the discharge cutout 88 in due course.

This leaves this flute empty to receive a new multiple length ofmouthpiece material from lugs 38 carried on feed drum 36 when it passesthat point, after which the sequence of events described above isrepeated.

It will be understood that due to the proper `timing arrangementexisting between the flutes in the drum `44 and the rows of feed lugs 38on roller 36, during the two revolutions when the flute 46-of drum 44passes the receiving station whilst containing any mouthpiece material,the flute 46 will be out of phase with the feed lugs 3S and so willreceive no mouthpiece material therefrom, but during the thirdrevolution of drum r44 the now empty flute 46 will arrive at thereceiving station in phase with the lugs 38 and so will receive a newmultiple length of mouthpiece material therefrom. FIGURE 9 clearly showsthe sequence of operations, and in the manner described We have arecycling of the remaining plugs and a successive delivery of alignedand subdivided mouthpieces onto the assembly conveyor chain or drum.Because the cutaway portion 7&3 of stop plate 64 is relatively shallowno special provision has to be made for the relatively minordis-alignment resulting from this. However, if it should be so desired,a suitable plow guide could be provided to push this slight disalignmentof the last subdivision back into exact alignment.

As mentioned heretofore the fluted drum 44 is mounted on the horizontalshaft 82 which may be driven from the main drive of a filter tip machineor any other suitable source of power (not shown). To shaft 82 issecured a gear 90 which meshes with and drives gear 92 (FIGS. 2 and l0)mounted on a shaft 94 which in turn carries and drives the feed roller36 also mentioned heretofore. To shaft 82 is secured another gear 96which meshes with and drives a gear 98 mounted on a shaft 100. Integralwith gear 98 is a sprocket 102 which through a suitable chain 104 isconnected with and drives a sprocket 106 mounted on a shaft 108 which inturn carries and drives a pair of sprockets 110 which support and drivethe plug receiving roller chains 86 illustrated in FIG. 1.

While the above paragraph describes the properly timed and synchronizeddriving mechanism for the mouthpiece feeding, cutting, separating anddelivery mechanism illustrated in FIGS. l, 2, 9 and l0, thesychronization between the plug feed roller 36 and the fluted drum 44 toaccomplish the feeding of a multiple length mouthpiece into every thirdute 46 of drum 44 may be achieved by employing suitable mechanically orelectronically operated hunting or detecting devices or a combination ofsuch. The rotating knife blade 78 (FIGS. 1 and 2) employed for severingindividual lengths from the multiple length mouthpiece is mounted on ashaft 112 which may be driven by a suitable source of power such as anindividual motor (not shown).

In the modified form of my invention shown in FIG- URES 3, 4 and 5,multiple length mouthpiece may be fed from a similar hopper as the oneshown in FIG. 1, provided with a funnel or feed channel 114 (FIG. 3)suitably shaped to cause the multiple length mouthpiece to drop into theutes 116 formed in the lluted drum 118 which travels in the direction ofthe arrow indicated in FIG. 3. As the sextuple lengths of mouthpiecematerial move past a pair of spaced knives 120 rotating in a directionindicated by the arrow, the sextuple length is subdivided into threesubdivisions. The subdivided lengths of mouthpiece material are confinedin their repective flutes by the arcuate shield 122. Suitable slots areformed in the shield 122 and the iluted cutting drum 118, to receive thecutting knives 120. It will be understood that the knives 120 do nothave to be on the same center but could be staggered.

One or more stripping fingers 124 project in from an arcuate guide plate126 are provided for removing each subdivision of mouthpiece materialfrom the drum 118 and guiding the same into the flute 12S of therecirculating drum 130. Suitable annular grooves 119 are formed in thecutting drum 118 for receiving the lingers 124.

The number and pitch of flutes in the cutting drum 11S and in therecirculating drum 130 is determined in the manner previously describedwhere a formula was set up for determining the relation of the feedroller 36 for the drum 44, illustrated in FIG. 1.

When the subdivisions of mouthpiece material held in the flutes 128(FIG. 3) travel downwardly they move past a stationary suction chamber132 placed adjacent one end of drum 130 causing the nearest subdividedmouthpiece length to be pulled up against a stop rod 134 secured to saidbox 132 and positioned parallel to drum 130 as shown in FIGURES 3 and 5.As the drum 130 continues its rotation every subdivision pulled againstthe stop rod 134 reaches the discharge cutout 136 provided in thelowermost portion of guide plate 136 which permits said subdivisions todrop into the pockets or spaces formed by suitable rollers 138 of aconventional assembly drum or roller chain, 140 similar to the one shownin FIG. l. It will be noted that only one subdivision of mouthpiecematerial is delivered from each flute 12S of drum 130 (FIG. 4).

The drive for the drum and the assembly rollers 13S on chains 140 areadvanced and synchronized in such a manner as to assure that each flute128 of drum 130 when passing the cutout 136 in guide plate 126 ofdischarge station will be directly above the space between a pair `ofassembly rollers 13S. As the cutting drum 118 and the recirculating drum130 continue their respective rotations, two adjacent flutes of 12S inthe latter will be out of phase with the ilutes 116 of drum 113 at thereceiving station, while every third and empty flute 12S of drum 130will line up and be in phase with a ute 116 of drum 11S at which time anew multiple length of mouthpiece material is transferred from drum 118to drum 130. In this way we have a recirculation of plug material sothat one subdivision at a time is delivered from each flute 128 onto theassembly rollers 138 in substantially the same manner as the recyclingoperation described in connection with the drum 44 illustrated in FIG.1.

When the subdivisions reach the end of the flutes from which they aredischarged one at a time from each adjacent ute, they come in contactwith a suitably shaped ejector finger 142 which positively ejects thesubdivided mouthpiece into the space between the assembly rollers 138.

Finger 142 is suitably secured to the outer wall of the arcuate guideplate 126 and projects into a suitable annular groove 144 provided indrum 130. The stationary suction box 132 receives suction through asuitable tube 145 from a conventional source of suction (not shown).

In FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 I have shown another embodiment of my inventionwherein a column of pieces of multiple length mouthpiece material is fedfrom a hopper which may be similar to the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1.The multiple length mouthpiece material is so fed between channel walls146. Adjacent the lower end of channel 146 holding the column ofmouthpiece material is provided a suitable gate 143 which prevents thedischarge of said mouthpiece material into the flutes 150 of drum 152until said gate 148 opens. The gate 14S stays open for one completerevolution of cutting drum 152 to ll every flute therein with completemultiple lengths of mouthpiece material. and thus arrests any furtherdelivery of mouthpiece material into utes 150 until the drum 152 hascompleted two additional revolutions. The gate 148 is actuated in timedrelationship with the drive of the shaft 154 driving iiuted drum 152 inany suitable manner to accomplish this.

The gate 14S is secured to a horizontal bar 155 provided at one end witha guide shoe 156 (FIGS. 7 and 8) slidably supported in a forked endportion 158 of an arm 160 loosely mounted on the drum shaft 154.Integral with the hub of arm 160 is a cam lever 162 the free end ofwhich is formed into a suitable cam follower 164 which due to the actionof a tension spring 166 (FIG. 6) engages with a suitably shaped cam 16Smounted on a shaft 170 rotated by a gear 172 mounted thereon and meshingwith a gear 174 secured to the continuously rotating drum shaft 154. Itwill be noted that the timed oscillating motion imparted to arm 160 andthus to gate 148 by cam lever 162 and cam 16S causes an opening andclosing of said gate 148 with respect to the bottom of the feed channel146 and thus control the ilow or delivery of the multiple lengths ofmouthpiece material from said channel 146 into the flutes 150 of thedrum 152.

Since it is undesirable to have any drag of the gate or the bottom ofthe column of mouthpiece material in chanknel 146 upon the drum 152 orthe mouthpiece carried therein after the gate is closed, the gate 148 aswell as the column of mouthpiece material in channel 146 is slightlyraised during the closing action of said gate. (FIG. 8.) This raisingand lowering motion of gate 148 is accomplished through a cam roller 176loosely mounted on a stud 178 held by a lug 180 which is integral withthe horizontal gate carrying bar 155. Cam roller 176 en- The gate 14S isthen closed gages with .a suitably shaped cam lug 182 secured to theouter side of one of the channel walls 146. A compression spring 184(FIGS. 7 and 8) conned `between the top of guide shoe 156 and the bottomside of a top plate 186 on the forked end portion 15S of arm 160 isemployed to keep roller 176 in permanent contact with the cam lug 182.As illustrated in dotted lines in FIG. 8 the different positions of thecam roller 176 on cam lug 132 effected by the oscillating lmotion of arm160` during opening and closing operation results in a desirable troublefree gate action and feed control.

When the multiple lengths of mouthpiece material pass by the rotatingcutting knife 188 which extends into a suitable groove 19t) formed inthe fluted drum 152, one end of the multiple length mouthpiece materialis severed therefrom. The mouthpiece material to be severed is alignedagainst an adjustable lstop flange 192 by the action of an air jet 194or other means in a manner similar to that previously described. Thestop flange 192 is spaced from the cutting knife 138 a distancecorresponding to the length of the subdivisions desired.

The periphery of the iluted drum 152 is surrounded by a circularretainer shield 196 suitably secured to the lower edges of channel 146.A suitable slot formed in the retainer shield 196 permits the rotaryknife 188 to protrude into the slot 190 of drum 152. The lower end ofthe shield 196 is provided with a suitably shaped cutout 198 shown inFlGURES 7 and 8 to permit the severed ends of the subdivided mouthpiecesto drop from the utes 150 of drum 152 into the spaces between assemblyrollers 21N) carried and supported `by a pair of endless chains 202driven in proper timed relation with drum 152 in the direction indicatedby arrows in FIG. 6.

Endless chains 202 are continuously driven by a pair of sprockets 204(FIG. 6) mounted on a shaft 206 which carries and is driven by asprocket 208 (FIG. 7). Sprocket 208 through a chain 210v is driven by asprocket 212 mounted on a shaft 214 to which is also secured a gear 216which meshes .with and is driven by a gear 218 mounted on the drum.shaft 15.4. After all the multiple lengths of mouthpiece material hadtheir leading end severed and delivered in the manner described, theremaining subdivisions will again come into the range of action of thejet nozzle 194 during the second revolution of the drum 152.

As soon as this occurs said remaining subdivision is blown sequentiallyagainst the stop 192 and each following remaining subdivision will beacted upon in a similar manner, so that, as the drum 152 continues itsrotation the second subdivision will be severed by the cutting knife 18Sas the subdivisions pass said knife. When all of the remainingsubdivisions have then been severed in this manner, and one has beendelivered from each flute the remaining subdivisions will again reachthe range of action of the air jet 194, during the third revolution ofthe drum 152. At this time the stop 192 is moved a slightly greaterdistance from the cutting knife 188 so that each remaining subdividedmouthpiece moves past the rotating cutting knife 188 without touchingthe sam-e. In this Way all the plugs are ultimately discharged throughthe cutout 198 of shield 196. When the rst empty ute 150 of drum 152reaches the feed channel 1416, the gate 143 opens and permits a newsupply of multiple length mouthpieces to be delivered into therespective ilutes. The cycle of operation described will then berepeated.

To accomplish the retraction of the stop ange 192 during the thirdrevolution of drum 152 in each cycle of the machine, said stop flange isprovided with a threaded stud 220 (FIG. 7) held by the free end of anarm 222 mounted on a shaft 224 supported by suitable bearing brackets(not shown). To shaft 224 is also secured a cam lever 226 which at itsfree end carries a cam roller 228 engaging with a cam 230 mounted on therotating cam shaft 170 described heretofore. It is self evident thatwhen roller 228 is in contact with the high portion 252 of cam 230 thestop flange 192 is a greater distance away from the cutting knife 188than when roller 228 contacts the low portion 234 of said cam. Asuitable tension spring (not shown) assures a permanent engagement ofcam roller 228 with cam 230. To prevent any interference with the properoperation of the gate 148 the upper portion of the shield 196 adjacent-to the feed channel 146 is provided with a suitable cut out 236 (FIGS.7 and 8).

The invention hereinabove described may therefore be varied inconstruction -within the scope of the claims, for the particular deviceselected to illustrate the invention lis but one of many possibleembodiments of the same. The invention, therefore, is not to berestrict-ed to the precise details of the structure shown and described.

What is claimed is:

l. A mechanism for subdividing multiple mouthpiece stalks into apredetermined number n of predetermined lengths, an endless conveyorhaving a plurality of devices for slidably supporting multiplemouthpiece stalks for lengthwise sliding movements, said devices beingequally spaced along said conveyor and being in number equal to xnicWhere x is a Whole number larger than one and c a whole number betweenZero and n and at least one of n or c is an odd number, means to feedsaid multiple length mouthpiece stalks to said devices in a sequentialskip feed cycle, said sequential cycle having a skip value equal to saidpredetermined number, cutting means positioned along said conveyor aftersaid feed means to sever stalks in said devices, stop means on saidconveyor to align one end of said multiple length mouthpiece stalks, andlocated a predetermined length from said cutting means, slider means toslide said multiple length mouthpiece stalks against said stop means,said slider means being located along said conveyor between said feed-rneans and said cutter means and being timed in operation with saidendless conveyor and means subsequent to said cuttingfmeans to dischargea severed length from said devices, whereby said stalks rnay be movedagainst said stop for sequential severing of mouthpiece lengths, saiddevices being reloaded by said loading means when any given stalk vhasbeen completely discharged.

2. A mechanism for subdividing multiple mouthpiece stalks into apredetermined number n of predetermined lengths, an endless conveyorhaving a plurality of devices for slidably supporting multiplemouthpiece stalks for lengthwise sliding movements, said devices beingequally spaced along said conveyor and being in number equal to xnicwhere x is a whole number larger than one and c a whole number betweenzero and n and at least one of n or c is an odd number, means to feedsaid multiple length mouthpiece stalks to said devices in a sequentialskip feed cycle, said sequential cycle having a skip value equal to saidpredetermined number, cutting means positioned along said conveyor aftersaid feed means, to sever stalks in said devices, stop means on saidconveyor to align one end of said multiple length mouthpiece stalks, andlocated a predetermined length from said cutting means, means foradjustably moving said stop means towards and away from said endlessconveyor to regulate and adjust the distance a predetermined stalklength of mouthpiece material to be severed extends between the cuttingmeans and the stop means, slider means to slide said multiplelengthmouthpiece stalks against said stop means, said slider means beinglocated along said conveyor between said feed means and said cuttermeans and being timed in operation with said endless conveyor and meanssubsequent to said cutting means to discharge a severed length from saiddevices, whereby said stalks may be moved against said stop forsequential severing of mouthpiece lengths, said devices being reloadedby said loading means when any given stalk has been completelydischarged.

3. A mechanism for subdividing multiple mouthpiece stalks into apredetermined number n of predetermined lengths, an endless conveyorhaving a plurality of devices Tt l for slidably supporting multiplemouthpiece stalks for lengthwise sliding movements, said devices beingequally spaced along said conveyor and being in number equal to xnicwhere x is a whole number larger than one and c a Whole number betweenZero and n and at least one of n or c is an odd number, means to feedsaid multiple length mouthpiece stalks to said devices in a sequentialskip feed cycle, said sequential cycle having a skip value equal to saidpredetermined number, cutting means positioned along said conveyor aftersaid feed means to sever stalks in said devices, stop means on saidconveyor to align one end of said multiple length mouthpiece stalks, andlocated a predetermined length from said cutting means, slider means toslide said multiple length mouthpiece stalks against said stop means,said slider means being located along said conveyor between said feed ymeans and said cutter means and being timed in operation with saidendless conveyor and means subsequent to said cutting means to dischargea severed length from said devices, whereby said stalks may be movedagainst said stop for sequential severing of mouthpiece lengths, saiddevices being reloaded by said loading means when any given stalk hasbeen completely discharged and a receiving conveyor for receiving yonesevered length at a time from said devices.

4. A mechanism for subdividing multiple mouthpiece stalks into apredetermined number n of predetermined lengths, an endless conveyorhaving a plurality of devices for slidably supporting multiplemouthpiece stalks for lengthwise sliding movements, said devices beingequally spaced along said conveyor and being in number equal to xnicwhere x is a whole number larger than one and c a whole number betweenzero and n and at least one of n or c is an odd number, means forforming a column of horizontally arranged multiple mouthpiece stalks,means to feed said multiple length mouthpiece stalks to said devices ina sequential skip feed cycle, said sequential cycle having a skip valueequal to said predetermined number, cutting means positioned along saidconveyor after said feed means to sever stalks in said devices, stopmeans on said conveyor to align one end of said multiple lengthmouthpiece stalks, and located a predetermined length from said cuttingmeans, slider means to slide said multiple length mouthpiece stalksagainst said stop means, said slider means being located along saidconveyor between said feed means and said cutter means and being timedil?, in operation with said endless conveyor means subsequent to saidcutting means to discharge a severed length from said devices, wherebysaid stalks may be moved against said stop for sequential severing ofmouthpiece lengths,- said devices being reloaded by said loading meanswhen any given stalk has been completely discharged.

5. A mechanism for subdividing multiple mouthpiece stalks into a.predetermined number n of predetermined lengths, an endless conveyorhaving a plurality of devices for slidably supporting multiplemouthpiece stalks for lengthwise sliding movements, said devices beingequally spaced along said conveyor and being in number equal to xnic,Where x is a whole number larger than one and c a whole number betweenzero and n and `at least one of n or c is an odd number, means to feedsaid multiple length mouthpiece stalks to said devices in a sequentialskip feed cycle, said sequential cycle having a skip value equal to saidpredetermined number, cutting means positioned along said conveyor aftersaid feed means to sever stalks in said devices, stop means on saidconveyor to align one end of said multiple length mouthpiece stalks, andlocated a predetermined length from said cutting means, said stop meansincluding a plate having a recessed portion which is opposite to one ofsaid devices each time only a single mouthpiece length remains inReferences Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS450,147 Gill Apr. 14, 1891 839,121 Dean Dec. 25, 1906 1,641,222 FoisySept. 6, 1927 1,934,660 Fairchild Nov. 7, 1933 2,123,580 Wheless July12, 1938 2,236,150 Maltby Mar. 25, 1941 2,328,712 Domke Sept. 7, 1943

